


Never Meant to End This Way

by ShipItLikeGayFedX



Series: The Beginning to The End [1]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: A weeeee bit of angst, Angst, Dan Gruchy(mentioned), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fake AH - Freeform, Fake AH guys, I just didn't want anyone from AH/RT to be those roles, I'll update the tags as I update the story, It's an au first of all so is it really that far of a jump?, M/M, Sorry about the oc's, The raywood is a slow build, There's also some sci fi shit, This is a MYSTERY, Torture, Violence, and some fluff, bisexual main characters, gold star if you guess the big deal one, have fun, like a sci fi!au, no threesomes though, not very canon compliant, slight breakdowns, some increased tech and progressions of stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-04
Updated: 2016-03-18
Packaged: 2018-05-24 18:24:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 19,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6162565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShipItLikeGayFedX/pseuds/ShipItLikeGayFedX
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Fake AH crew was the best around, and everyone knew it. Sadly, "everyone" meant even the people willing to take people with talent and force them to use it, too. And sadly, one member was the target of one such person. Now he needs to figure out how long he can handle being in the position he is in, how long he can keep it secret, and if his team is safer with or without him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Game Night

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys like this! I'll update fast (at least at first) because I write a chapter the same day as I update. Let me know any feedback here, because I appreciate any and all you have to say. Thank you! [Fic is finished]
> 
> Let me know if you think I should edit this fic to make it more descriptive and flow better while keeping the same plot, please. I want to, but I don't know how people would react. Thank you :)

His hand fell slowly to rest on his thigh as his head lulled consciously to the back of the chair, his fingers tapping a tune all but forgotten by everything but the memory in the tips of his fingers. As soon as being alone was guaranteed, he finally dropped his bumbling mask. Everyone needs to take a mask off every once in a while, even if it was just to switch masks out. But today, the itch underneath was enough to let his real face have a break. No one was there to see it, anyways.

He was alone.

For a moment, the pang of guilt of what he does late at night hit his heart, but he shook his head to clear the thought. " _This isn't you,_ " was the thought that took the guilt's place. He thought about how innocent his team was compared to him. A band of criminals, the lot of them; but they were so innocent. Closing his eyes, he decided to let the thought slip away as he tried at an attempt to sleep, just for a short amount of time.

 

* * *

 

2 days later

"Give it back, Micoo!" The British boy was underneath the easily angered Jersey boy.

"Not until you apologise, you fuck!" With that, he shifted some of his weight onto his knee, pushing it into Gavin's abdomen. He sqwaked the trademarked 'Gavin noise' and laughed.

"Okay, I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Did you hear that Micoo? I did it! Give the tower back!" Gavin squealed again as Michael got off of him, laughing at how much the name 'brit twit' keeps proving to fit more and more.

They roughed around a lot, much more than anyone else in the crew - except maybe Geoff and Gavin. Despite practically being Gavin's 'dad', Geoff fought with Gavin about as much as he gets Michael to hold back from throwing punches. The 'fighting' was usually forgiven as soon as they finished pinning the other down, and if not, it was always forgiven by the next day.

Gavin sat back down at his Xbox and laughed along with everyone else as Michael gave the Tower of Pimps back. He had won the golden tower without a doubt, but he did it by blowing up Michael and his house in their game of Minecraft.

~~~

_"I thought **Michael** was the explosions expert," Jack had joked as soon as he blew up. Michael shot him a glare. _

_"I WON THE TOWER OF PIIIIMPS!" Gavin interrupted._

_"Gavin, you piece of shit!" Michael shouted as he killed Gavin's character, successfully stealing the gold blocks. Gavin made another 'Gavin' noise and asked with a whine for him to give it back._

_"That took forever to build!" was all Michael said as he tackled him._

~~~

The boys always played video games together. Between their heists was a whole lot of small jobs and boring, so they decided to find a group activity to pass the time- video games.

"I came in second, what do I get?" Ray piped up jokingly after Gavin erected his tower.

"Dandelions. Or cake. Your pick," Geoff joked as he threw both at his character.

"That's _racist_ ," Ray joked. "Give the Puerto Rican the shitty flowers. What about roses, Geoff? Hm? Roses."

"Oh, I don't know, Mr. _Rose Theif_. We're fresh out." Geoff retorted as they all laughed.

"You went into _creative_ mode, Geoff! You could give me a hundred roses!" Ray replied as his character threw all of the yellow flowers back at Geoff's character, and started throwing the cakes as Geoff walked away.

"Oh sweet, free gubbs!" Michael shouted as he ran in front of Ray's character, picking up the cakes.

They all roared with laughter as Ray hit him with a diamond sword, and Geoff ended their game session with his stolen trademark, "let's stop!"

They all turned off their Xboxes as Geoff said, "well that went well." Gavin checked his phone as Michael walked over to Gavin, making sure he was okay. Jack and Geoff both headed to the kitchen for some food and whiskey (Geoff definitely favoured the latter at the moment), and Ryan and Ray both started doing their own thing with their computers.

 

* * *

 

Gavin smiled as Michael approached. "Whatcha lookin' at there?" He gestured to his phone, wondering what made Gavin smile.

"Oh, nothing. Just checking the notifications," he answered the curly haired man.

"But you were smiling," Michael pressed.

Gavin looked up at that. "You're a terrible sneak. I saw you in the reflection of my phone," he said with a snicker.

"That's why you smiled, then?" Michael gave him a look.

"Yep." He gave Michael a smug smile.

"Terrible sneak?" It seemed to only just register Gavin's earlier remark.

"Loud's just in your nature, Michael. You blow things up; that's not much of a sneaky thing to do, you know," the brit stood up. "People generally notice when things go 'boom', Micoo," he said as he put a hand on the shorter man's shoulder. "If you ever want to learn a bit..." He teased.

"Oh, fuck no," Gavin chuckled and removed his hand. "'Boom' is what I like. 'Boom' is what I have," he turned around to face the younger man. "Sneaking is-" Gavin had snuck away, making Michael laugh to himself and shake his head. "-for nerds."

 

* * *

 

Ray stood up, rubbing his eyes and putting his purple hood up. "I'm going to the armoury," he said as he walked past Ryan. "Come with, or..."

Ryan hummed in thought. "Uh, I''ll walk with you, but I think I'm going to head out for a bit. Clear my mind."

Ray nodded. "Okay man. Let me know if you need anything." Ryan nodded this time, and they both could conclude that they were both tired.

~

Ray was the one to break the silence, despite being the quiet one. "So, where are you going, exactly?"

"I don't know, really. Just walking." He didn't look at Ray.

Another awkward silence was broken by Ray's voice.

"Okay man, but don't do anything stupid, 'kay? Gotta be at the meeting on time; Geoff's planning another heist." He stopped outside of the armoury door, "don't get the cops on us or anything," they laughed. "Don't want skeptical looks while we blow shit up. Ruins the effect." Ray winked and Ryan laughed.

"Don't worry. I won't ruin our blaze of glory."

"Good," was all Ray said as they walked their separate ways, Ryan heading further down the hall and Ray walking in to clean his hot pink weapons. He wanted to use his special weapons for such a promising heist.

 

* * *

 

Jack searched the fridge for his left over sandwich while Geoff drank another glass of whiskey. "There's beer in the fridge, you know," Jack announced to Geoff, curious as to why he was electing to drink the whiskey instead.

"There's whiskey in my cup," was all Geoff said before taking another drink.

"Fair enough." Jack sat down beside him, unwrapping the sandwich from its plastic wrap. "You think you should be getting drunk? We're going to give the plans to another heist tomorrow; you don't want to be hung over while doing it, do you?"

Geoff finished what was left in his glass and let out a sigh accordingly. "Yeah, you're right," Geoff brought his glass to the sink. "You got a good sandwich there?" He nodded towards Jack's half sandwich and Jack nodded while taking a bite.

He swallowed and spoke. "Yeah, it's pretty good." They sat there in silence for another minute or so before Geoff spoke up. "I'm gonna go to bed." He said as he stood back up. Jack replied with a hum and went to bed a few minutes after, cleaning up after himself.

 

* * *

 

He shuffled his feet. He didn't care of the obvious noise it'd make. To be completely honest, it made him fit in better. People generally make a lot of noise, and avoiding doing so makes him _more_ noticeable. So he shuffled his feet and kicked pebbles, hoping no one recognised him. He knew it was unlikely, but in his line of work, some paranoia is a good thing.

He walked for what seemed like hours, occasionally hiding in the darkness as people went by. They weren't the right people.

After a few more minutes of walking, he walked into the back alleys. He heard a female voice shouting.

"Help! Someone!" He followed the shouting to its source. He came across a man grabbing a woman while she fought him off. "Help!" She shouted and shouted, eventually crying.

"Get your hands off of her," he shouted at the attacker.

He held her more steady, "Come on man, she's my girlfriend. I'm trying to calm her down," he tried to 'explain'. The girl shook her head violently.

"In a dark alley at two in the morning?" He walked towards the man and ripped his hands off the woman, and in a swift movement, stabbed him in the abdomen. "Nice try."

The woman gathered her stuff she was forced to drop when she was attacked. "T-thank you..." Was all she could manage to say as he stood up from the unconscious body next to him.

"What's your name?" He asked her. She brushed her tight curls out of her eyes and regained some composure. "A-Annalise. Anna. Anna Coryé." She stumbled on her words and let out a very nervous, very breathy laugh that nearly passed as a fast sigh, unsure what the proper reply was to a man who just saved you.

"Coryé..." He mumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" She cocked her head, her mocha coloured face barely illuminated by the small automatic lamp on the back of the abandoned building behind them.

"It's a pretty name," he said, a half smile crept on his face and she smiled widely.

"Thank you!" She twisted her hair into even tighter ringletd. It didn't take much to figure out she was flirting. "What's uh..." She let out another nervous laugh. "What's your name?" She smiled warmly and he thought a second.

"Sam." He came up with a name as quickly as possible. He knew he was lying, but she didn't. Why would he lie, anyways?

"Sam..." She repeated, trying it out. She glanced at the body on the ground a few feet away, then back up at Sam. "I uh... I'm a barista at the local café. You should stop by. I'll give you a free drink and sandwich, eh?"

"Thank you, Anna." He smiled.


	2. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three months ago was the beginning of it all. He woke up tied to a chair with his crew unknowingly at the end of a blade or a gun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sassy "John" is best, don't you think? XD
> 
> Thank you all for reading the first chapter! I hope you enjoy this one. I promise things will pick up more soon.

3 months ago

He woke up with blurry vision and a splitting headache. That'd be normal - if he actually had any alcohol the day before. But they were on a heist and hadn't gotten to their celebratory rounds yet. 

His eyes tried to adjust to the dark. It took only a few moments to realise there was a blindfold on him. He instinctively tried to move it off, realising right then and there that his arms were bound behind him. " _Either I did get drunk and the guys are **really** kinky, or this is a problem_ ," he thought to himself. The question was answered a few moments later when he felt his face get attacked by freezing cold water, and a man with the voice of a thirty year old man still living with his mother said the most cliché thing: "Wakey, wakey, sleeping beauty." He couldn't tell if he rolled his eyes or not, but he was almost certain he did, or would've if the blind fold didn't hinder that progress. 

"I'm already awake, bitch." He spat some of the water out, hopefully in the direction of the man in the room with him. Judging by the violent jerk he gave the blindfold, he managed to get basement boy with the spit. 

Basement boy yanked the blindfold off, pulling his hair slightly. His sight adjusted to reveal a heavy man, his hair greasy and his stubble unkempt. Sounds alone _screamed_ "30-year-old basement dweller" but now the visual just radiates it. 

"What's you name, eh?" He tried, giving an annoying smile.

All he did was give a smirk.

"There's no reason not to tell me," he stood up and crossed his arms, freeing him from his bad breath. "Just tell me your name." 

He sighed. "John." He obviously didn't do his homework well enough. 

Basement boy gave him a look as if he was debating whether he was telling the truth or not. 

"Nice to meet you, John." He either believed him, or he didn't give a crap. 

He rolled his eyes for sure this time. "Oh yeah, what a _pleasure_." Basement boy shot him a look of disapproval.

"There's no need to be rude, John," he crossed his arms again. 

"Oh, really?" He exaggerated his movements. "'Cause I was pretty certain I was tied up to a fucking _chair_." Basement boy just stared at him, trying to figure out which type of look to give him. "Must've been my imagination, then," he shrugged and, for added flair, tried thrashing his arms about, to no avail. 

Basement boy sighed and began to pace. "I'll untie you," he stopped pacing and looked directly at him. "But I have to ensure some stuff, first."

He raised an eyebrow. "What do you want?"

"I don't want you to sell out your crew or anything. I know where they all are and I could kill them in a moment," he walked towards him and crouched down. "Which I _will_ do if you don't agree to help me." To basement boy's confusion, he began to laugh, and it almost sounded sincere. He stared at him in confusion before raising his voice. "I mean it! I don't want you to give me information or anything; I just want you to... 'Take care' of some names on a list." He used air quotes on "take care", and stood up. "I won't step on your turf, won't hurt your guys, and I'll actually provide minor help in some cases. Nothing obvious, obviously." Basement boy smiled, and he realised he was sincere- at least for the request. 

"Note to self: kidnap the man you want to hire," was all he said in reply, smiling smugly.

"Could you try to be a bit more serious? You don't have much wiggle room, you know." 

"Oh?" He kept smiling, and he was certain it was pissing basement boy off.

"I told you! I know exactly where your team is." He crouched down and got in his face. He kept smiling; basement boy couldn't be serious and it pissed him off.

He didn't say a word. 

"Fine." He slapped his legs and stood up. Basement boy turned the chair he sat in and pointed him in a new direction. "See these screens?" He pointed at five separate screens. 

"Blank screens are oh so fascinating," he rolled his eyes at basement boy's incompetence. 

"Look at them," he hissed. The screens turned on to reveal three of his crew members. The other two were on the outside of two different apartments. He saw a screen with members in two different bars. One of them passed out on a table, and the other with three empty glasses and another he was still drinking. The third showed another member in some unappealing room beating the shit out of a punching bag. 

A pang of guilt hit his heart. He hated how angry they looked. 

"They think you just left, John. You wrote them a note, left it on your meet up place, and ran with the money." Basement boy smiled at the fact that that his smug smile dropped. "You've been gone for a day and a half. You've not been replying to their messages, and there were no signs of a struggle." It was his turn to be smug. "They're not coming for you." 

He saw the man on the third screen stop his punching and pull out his phone. A few moments later, he heard his text alert go off. Basement boy picked up his phone and read the texts on the front. "From 'Unknown number'.'Where the fuck are you?'" He looked at him and back down. 

 

_**Unknown number** _

_Don't ignore us._

 

_**Unknown number** _

_How could you leave just a note?_

_**Unknown number** _

_You could have talked to us_

_**Unknown number** _

_answer me goddammit_

_**Unknown number** _

_fuck you_

_**Unknown number** _

_I didn't mean that. Please just come back. We miss you_

_**Unknown number** _

_please_

_**Unknown number** _

_please_

_**Unknown number** _

_please answer us_

_**Unknown number** _

_I'm sorry_

 

"Oh dear," he set the phone back down and looked at his pained expression. "You really hurt him." 

"Fuck you." He looked at the screen again. He watched as the man on the screen threw his phone at the lack of a reply and break down.

"So?" He waited. After a few moments he crossed his arms. "Do we have an agreement?" 

He hesitated. "What _exactly_ do you want me to do?" 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy! Let me know if I should post the next chapter tonight or not


	3. Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day of the heist plans and the night of accidental paranoia in the form of nightmares. Gavin is in love, Geoff is protective, and Michael is worried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hint of mavin in this chapter ^.^ I hope you enjoy! Gold star to whoever guesses correctly who it is and tells me why they think it is him!

Present day

 

"Whatcha reading, x-Ray?" Ray jumped. He was used to Gavin sneaking up on him, but he wasn't expecting it. 

He chuckled, "Hey there, Vav." He set his phone down and looked up at Gavin and smiled. He glanced at his phone, "I was just reading a story about that one guy going around and killing a bunch of innocent people - you know who I mean." 

Gavin nodded. "Yeah, the "Night Prowler" was it? Stupid name."

"You can say that again," Ray let out a quick laugh and continued, "He killed another person last night. She was a barista at that one café we used to go to. She managed to hurt the guy, though. Got him pretty good before he offed her."

"That's good, right?" Gavin sat down on the sofa next to him. 

"Yeah, man. He bled everywhere and they know who he is now. A, uh," he looked at his phone for a second, "Kurt Angler? Another stupid name." 

"It's good they know who he is," Gavin took a deep breath and sighed. "I know we're criminals, but I'd hope we wouldn't kill anyone innocent without a _damn_ good reason." 

Ray tapped his phone to keep it from timing out. "Yeah." 

"Hey shit heads, get your asses in here!" They both jumped at the sudden shouting of Michael calling them into the 'heist' room.

Ray nodded at Gav and they both walked towards the room. 

"Look at those two love birds, walking in together," Geoff joked as the two came into the room. Gavin and Ray gave each other a wink and a suggestive flick of the eyebrows, causing everyone to laugh. 

"If you two are done being secret gay lovers, I'd really like to get to the plans," Geoff said once everyone calmed down. 

"Sorry," the two both quietly apologised while sitting down, waiting for the plan.

"Okay, so this warehouse right here-" he pointed to a place on the map hanging on the wall. "-it belongs to a new gang in town. They've got a lot of equipment and money hidden in there, and we're going to take it. Jack," he pointed to the man sitting quietly the closest to him. "You're the getaway, got it?" 

"Yep. What vehicle?" He placed his arms on the table and leaned forward. 

"The cargo bomb. It's another gang, so the police response won't be as large, so if we make our way to Chilliad, we'll be free to go." Jack nodded. "Michael," Geoff continued. "'Captain Overkill' is your name, and I want you to live up to it. Wire explosives to the top floors and set it off once we've got what we wanted. Got it?"

"You bet your ass I've got it," Michael reclined and crossed his arms. 

"Good. Ryan, I want you outside and killing every person you can. Ray will be on the high ground, taking out every person you don't." Ryan nodded and Ray gave a two fingered salute and a "you can count on me". 

Geoff turned to the last person yet to address. "Gavin, you stick to me, okay? We'll simultaneously get the money we can and as much other goods possible." 

Gavin nodded and smiled. "Will do, Geoffers." 

Geoff passed them all individual sheets of paper with the specifics. After a few moments of looking them over, Geoff added in quietly, "We don't want what happened last time to happen again, so _please_ , stick together as best you can." They all mumbled their own affirmations and Geoff smiled a bit. "We'll hit them in a few days. Good luck." 

 

* * *

  

Michael was sitting still and silent. _Must be asleep_ , Gavin thought to himself. 

Almost if on cue, Michael sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Fucking Hell, Michael..." Gavin heard him mumble under his breath, unaware anyone else was there in the room. 

"Everything alright, Micoo?" Gavin no doubt startled Michael. 

"Jesus, Gav. When did you get there?" He rubbed his eyes again.

"A few minutes ago," he explained. "I didn't want to wake you." 

"Well it wasn't you that woke me up. I just had a bad dream." Michael sighed. 

"What about?" Gavin walked towards the redhead and sat down. "Everything alright?" 

"Yeah, yeah," he replied. "I just..." He stopped what he was saying and looked down.

"Michael?" Gavin put a hand on the older man's shoulder. 

Michael sighed in reply. "It's... Nothing." 

"What's wrong, Michael?" Gavin gave his shoulder an affectionate squeeze. 

"It was about you." Gavin wasn't expecting Michael to say that. He admired Michael, but he never thought Michael would really think about him outside of their conversations, nightmares or not. 

"Me?" Was all Gavin could think to say.

"Yeah," he took a deep breath and sighed again. "A job went wrong and... " He rubbed his face. "And you got kidnapped. We were too late finding you..." He took a deep breath. "You were hurt so bad and I couldn't _stand_ it. You were in so much pain and I tried to help you but you died right there, right in front of me. I couldn't do anything. I..." He let out a shakey breath and looked at Gavin. "Don't you ever fucking do that, okay?"  

"I promise, Michael. I won't ever leave you." He smiled a sad smile, and he knew Michael didn't believe him. He couldn't believe himself; it was too uncertain for him to promise. But they both knew he would try his best to keep his word. 

"I wanted to protect you. It was almost a good dream if it weren't so real and so fucking... Goddammit Gavin, if you ever die like that, I'll kill you."

"By all means, you're free to do so," he chuckled. "Can't really say no after the first go, can I?" Michael smiled at his attempt to lighten the mood. 

Without warning, surprising both of them, Michael pulled Gavin in for a hug. "I know you're only a year younger than me, but I just have this constant need to protect you, I guess; like I'm your fucking mother or something, you twat."

Gavin hugged him back. _I love you_. "Thank you for being so protective, mum," he joked. _I love you_. His mind wanted to scream it, but there was no chance in _Hell_ Michael would feel the same. He may be protective, he may care, but he wouldn't love a stupid idiot like him. 

"No problem, asshole." He broke the hug. "Sorry for that."  

"It's alright. You're my boi, Micoo," Gavin wanted nothing more than to hug him some more, to make sure he was alright.  

"You're my boi, Gavvy." They both smiled. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any ideas yet who "John" is? Thanks for reading!


	4. Doubts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More John is touched on, and more doubts ensue. Ryan, Gavin, and Michael all had trouble sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More John! I wonder if anyone has guessed yet who he really is. No matter what, I hope you enjoy this chapter!

The next day

 

"John, nice of you to visit!" Basement boy gave him a nudge of greeting.

"What do you want?" He crossed his arms. "I only have two names left. You never gave me a set time and I'm working on it." 

"I know, I know. There's just one more thing I need for you to do..." He looked at him with an ambitious look. "You need to sabotage your next heist." 

He was taken aback. He was pissed. "You said I never had to hurt my team and I intend to never do that!" He pointed a finger at basement boy. "I've already done extra for you; I've gone after names not on that already long list, I've tortured for you!" After every thing he lists, he thrusts his finger into his face. "I did this _all_ for my team! I'm sticking to my original deal!" He dropped his finger and spun violently. "I... I'm not going to do this." 

He placed a hand on John's shoulder. John threw it off him. "John, this warehouse you're going after belongs to those last two names. If they get hit, they'll go into hiding." 

"Why does it even matter to you?" He screamed at the man. 

"I'll tell you once they're all taken out!" Basement boy shouted back.

"Why can't I just kill them when we hit them?" He was almost shaking with anger. This man single handedly ruined his life. He needed to know the reasons; he hated killing innocent people for unknown reasons.

"They're not here. We don't know where they are, but if they're hit, we'll _never_ know where they are." Basement boy hoped it would convince him.

"I'm not doing anything to my team." He shook his head. "That's too much to ask."

"Then you'll have to find them before you hit them." Basement boy crossed his arms.

"And if I don't?" He gave him a look with eyes like daggers. 

"Sabotage the heist." His words were almost as sharp as his glance. 

"No." He stabbed back with his words.

"Then you better hope you find them before that happens." With that, basement boy left the room, slamming the door.

He sighed.

 

* * *

 

Ryan walked in the room with tired eyes, watching everyone as they played Halo. 

"Nice of you to join the land of the living, Ry." Geoff piped up once Ryan walked further into view. He chuckled.

"Ry? Rye bread?" Gavin chimed in with his stupid jokes. He half expected it to come one of the other two lads.

"All we need to do now is get me wet." Ryan retorted to Gavin, and he gagged as expected. Gavin's Achilles heel has been and will always be just that: wet bread.

Gavin made his trademarked 'Gavin noise' and shouted. "Ryan, you minge, you got me killed!" He heard Ray burst out laughing. Free for all, then. 

"Fuck you, Ray!" Geoff screamed. Ray jumped up in a shout of victory. 

"Llllllllet's stop!" Ray replied. Geoff just rolled his eyes. 

A few minutes later, everyone was doing their own thing. Ray kept playing Halo, Gavin and Michael walked onto the balcony, and Geoff, Jack, and Ryan ended up in the kitchen. 

"What made you so tired?" Geoff asked after handing Ryan a water.

"I just couldn't sleep," he said as he opened the cap. 

"You, too?" Jack asked.

"I mean, I guess? You guys couldn't sleep?" Ryan wondered if that was what he meant by that. 

"Nah, we slept as well as usual. Gav and Michael couldn't sleep, though." Jack replied.

"Too busy sleeping together," Geoff joked.

"I thought it was _Ray_ and Gavin that were the 'secret gay lovers', Geoff," Ryan joked back.

"Nah, they're the joke secret gay lovers. Gav and Michael are the real deal." Geoff explained.

"Oh?"

Hard to miss," was all Geoff said before taking a drink of his own drink.

 

* * *

 

"You look like you haven't slept for days, Gav," Michael handed him a beer. 

"You're not far off," he grabbed the beer.

"Bad dreams for you, too?" He didn't know why he asked. Gavin was specialised in lying and he wouldn't know if he was or not.

"Yeah, just... Stuff in general kept me up. Thinking, and stuff." He leaned of the edge of the balcony, and the thought of him falling seized Michael's mind for a moment before he shook it out. If he died from a stupid balcony when their job is to literally go guns ablazing, fighting against the law, it'd certainly be a stupid event. He rolled his eyes at himself and looked at Gavin.

"Anything specific you were thinking about?" He put a hand on Gavin's back.

"Just... The heist. I don't want to mess it all up again." He sighed and sat down. 

"Gav, my boi, you won't ruin anything." He smiled and sat next to him putting an arm around his shoulders. 

"I just... I can't let you all down like that and I'm afraid if I do." He thought back to three months ago. He blamed himself for anyone getting kidnapped, and he blamed himself for not giving everyone the common sense that none of them would ever leave. He never could just _tell them_ that "oh yeah, he forced the note to be written because he used a rare drug they perfected that removes your free will", but he wished there was a way to explain it to them. But they all believed what was given to them.

"Gavin..." He wanted to tell him so many different things, but he just couldn't. Instead he elected for a promise. "You're not going to mess things up. You've never done that before, and you won't now. I promise." 

Gavin sighed. Moreso than ever did he want to scream those three words at Michael. "Michael..." 

"Yeah, my boi?" He smiled at him.

"What if I do mess it up, though?" He balled his hand into a fist, digging his nails into his palm. "I'll never forgive myself." 

"I... I don't know what would happen." Michael wished he could tel him more comforting words.

"Sometimes..." He too a deep breath. "Sometimes I think I should just..." He shook his head. "I should just leave before I fuck everything up." Michael felt like he was shot by his words. 

"Gavin, no. You're-" Gavin cut him off.

"I'm the least important one of you all. I'm just the pretty face! And even there, it's not all that pretty. I'm replaceable." Michael held back his emotions.

"Gavin, your face is very pretty," he joked. "And you're very useful. You can always find another explosives expert or another driver," he listed. "You're important. You are the best at your job." He looked into his eyes. "We've never seen anyone with skills as good as yours. I _promise_." 

They sat there in silence for a minute. The trees below them blew in the breeze and the water in the pool rippled. 

"Thank you."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Let me know what you think!


	5. Lady FAHC

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew get lady code names, John is having troubles, Basement Boy is kind of an idiot, and someone is acting weird...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have only one chapter written after this, so there will be a bit of a delay between uploads after that one. They won't be long though! Thank you so much for reading!

He did everything he could to find those names. No luck. After looking one more time, he threw his phone across the room. "Goddammit!" He screamed at himself, immediately hoping none of his team heard him, and hoped they would assume it wasn't anything serious if they did. With his luck, no one came looking. 

He hated the idea of having to tell basement boy, and hated even more the idea of hurting his team. He refused to hurt them.

He decided to bring up that they may already be dead. Basement boy hated it when other people killed his targets, and would get angry enough to punch him a few times for good measure. If someone else killed someone on the list, it'd be less of a scary message in the minds of the other targets. Basement boy wanted them to know _he_ was coming for them. Or the man he 'hired', anyways. 

He sighed. He'd rather get a beating than to hurt his team. He decided he'd tell him the possibility of them being dead is likely. They're criminals with a lot of other enemies, anyways, and they've never been off the map this long. 

 

* * *

 

Ray sat down and a slight wince made Ryan's head shoot up. "You okay?" 

"Yeah, why?" Ray fiddled with a pen he had in his pocket. 

"You winced." He looked Ray over. "What happened?"

Ray subconsciously gripped his side. "Nothing, really. A car blew up." He gave Ryan a weird smile.

"While you were _inside_?" He jumped to his feet, a sense of protection washing over every inch of himself. 

"Almost, but I jumped out quick enough." Ray chuckled. "Damn thing threw me into a wall, though. I'll be fine in a couple of days, if that. Promise." 

Ryan didn't know if he should believe him. "Can I see?" 

"There's not much to see." Ryan sighed.

"At least go to Caleb to get it checked out, okay?" He gave Ray a look you'd see a mother give their child after scraping their knee.

"Will do." Ray smiled at him. 

"Which car blew up?" Ryan wondered.

"Uh, one of my personal's. It'll be fixed before the heist, don't worry."

Ryan just gave him a look. After a few seconds, he sighed. "Okay. Just be careful." He paused, adding the second part quietly and with an even more protective tone. "And if that's not what happened, just make sure it doesn't happen again. Okay?" Ray nodded. "Be safe, Ray." 

"I will."

"Good," he replied, changing into a childish tone. "You're Miss No-Miss, and no other lady can ever match your womanly skills of shooting someone in the head." They both laughed. 

"Oh, why thank you, Little Miss Sweet." Ryan shook his head and laughed.

"Why am I 'Sweet'? I torture people." 

"The irony, Ryan. The irony. Humour is mandatory here." He pat Ryan on the back and they both smiled.

 

* * *

 

3 month ago

 

The screens were still on.

"John," basement boy stopped him from leaving the room. "Tell me about the girl."

He stopped walking. "What girl?" 

"Your sniper. The other one." He crossed his arms.  

"Well this is news to me." Basement boy gave him a look.  

"Don't lie to me, John." He shrugged.

"Must be my replacement." He faked a pout. 

"John, you know who she is. She's the only one with a code name that isn't 'the-' something. Miss No-Miss." His words made him scoff.

"What about Captain Overkill?" He scoffed again. "I am offended." 

It was basement boy's turn to roll his eyes. "So I forgot a code name. Big deal." He got a more angry composure. "Tell me about her." 

He sighed. "Pretty, young, and capable." He crossed his arms. "Can I go now? I want to get back before they _actually_ replace me." 

Basement boy sent him out. John waited until he was gone for a while before laughing his ass off at "Miss No-Miss". A _pun_ threw him off. What a donut. 

 

* * *

 

Present day

 

They were all sitting around the table trying to figure out the code names they'd use. 

"I think Ray should be Miss No-Miss," Gavin teased. They all chuckled.

"Only if Gavin is Lady Perfect Face." Ray gave Gavin a look and Gavin agreed.

"Does this mean I have to be 'Little Miss Sweet'?" Geoff almost choked on his drink when Ryan said this. 

"Uh, duh, isn't it obvious?" Ray gave Ryan a goofy smile. 

"I call Madame Boom." Michael stated matter-of-factly. Jack pushed his lips together and nodded.

"Fits." Jack interjected and Geoff gave him a nod in agreement. "What about me?" 

Without hesitation, Gavin answered. "Bearded Lesbian." They all roared with laughter.

Jack kept laughing after everyone else was done. "I love it!" 

"Geoff, you're 'Lady Spite'." Gavin answered the question they were all wondering. He made them all laugh yet again, but not as much.

"I'll take it, yeah." Geoff took another drink of his beer. "I like it."

"We good man?" Ray asked, wondering if the 'meeting' was done. 

"You got it, Miss No-Miss." 

They all groaned.

 

* * *

 

Geoff was sipping another glass of alcohol next to the pool. It was dark, and he thought everyone was asleep. He saw someone sneak past in the corner of his eye. 

"Ray?" Ray stopped in his track and stood stiffly straight up. 

"Geeeeeoooooffffff... Hi." He severely elongnated his name. Geoff put his beef down and walked closer to the man trying to sneak out. 

"What are you doing out here?" _Shouldn't he be in bed getting rested?_

"Uh," he laughed a nervous laugh. "Yeah, uh, about that..." They stood there for few moments, Ray still thinking of an excuse. 

"Yes, Ray?" Geoff gave him an look a father would give when you can't come up with an excuse.

He shrugged. "Yeah, I got nothin'." 

Geoff sighed. "Weren't you supposed be in bed or seeing Caleb?"  

Ray loosened his stance. "Either way, Ryan would see the injury I got," he sighed. "We both know he has no problem being a creep sometimes, sneaking into people's rooms." Geoff gave him a look. "Okay, sorry." 

"What's wrong with Ryan seeing it, Ray?" Geoff walked closer to him. 

Ray sighed. "I lied about how I got it..."

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More hints! If your ideas change, I'd be interested in hearing them. :)


	6. Ryan?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A story is told and FAHC knows something they didn't before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short, but a lot happens here. I'll make it up to you guys!

The night before 

 

"Dammit," Ray whispered to himself. He had previously asked Gavin if he could access the floor plans to the warehouse. He couldn't. He tried himself, but alas, to no avail. 

They both had been trying for hours with their own methods. Finally, Ray gave up the hacking way. "The traditional way it is, then," he mumbled under his breath and put his equipment away. 

 

~~~

 

He waited until everyone was in their own rooms before sneaking out. He'd head for the warehouse and scope it out as best he could without getting caught. He always stuck to the back, but when he had to go out, he had mixed his own learnings of stealth with what he learned from Gavin. He had confidence no one would find him.

 

* * *

 

Ray walked around the rooms as quietly and carefully as possible; one wrong step could get him killed or captured. That was exactly what _not_ to do if you don't want to be figured out.

After every room, he marked the important parts on a grid paper and added in the room. He had mapped out the bottom two floors and half of the next before it happened. He found a knife. Not just any knife, however; it was a familiar, custom made knife he could trace back to his team with looks alone. 

Ryan said he'd lost it.

Ray shook his head and picked it up, sliding it into his bag with the finished papers. He hoped it was just a coincidence. 

He kept going, mapping one more room before **_BANG!_** A gunshot sounded out through the hallways.

Ray jumped. A million thoughts rushed through his head. _What could that be?_

Ray usually kept a level head with minimal paranoia, but they all have it, and it's much more noticeable when you know you're in a potentially dangerous situation.

His heart was a machine gun and he held his breath for what seemed like years before finally exhaling, hoping whoever it was that fired was gone. He kept moving, equally wondering what the gunshot was from and not wanting to find out. 

Unfortunately, he was unlucky enough to get the former. _Shit_. 

 

* * *

 

"Who was it, then?" Geoff sadly had to admit he was rather interested.

"I... I don't know. I never _saw_ him." Ray shrugged. 

"Why'd he fire the gun?" Geoff asked, not even registering the lack of an answer from Ray.

"I don't-" he sighed. "Look man, do you want me to tell the story or not?" 

Geoff sighed. "Right, sorry. Do the honours." He gestured to Ray to continue. 

 

* * *

 

Ray heard talking. Well, shouting. The sound of a fist hitting something, most likely flesh echoed through the mostly empty halls. No cries sounded out, but he could have sworn someone was getting hit. Determined to get _some_ answer, he moved slowly and silently until he could make out what the voice was shouting, seemingly to himself due to no reply. 

"-lucky no one was here! If they found out, you bet your goddamn ass you or the rest of your team would be hunted down and _killed_. You're fucking lucky it's only me here." 

Ray sat thew silently, his paranoia doubling every second the man's pause lasted. _What if he knows I'm here_ , he thought. After what seem like minutes, and was probably only a few seconds in reality, he started up again.

"Listen here, John," Ray saved that name in his memory. "You should be thanking me for not killing you right now." There was a pause, possibly the man waiting for John to thank him, then a grunt of anger from the same voice boomed out before a repeat noise of a fist hitting flesh sounded. "You better hope to God they're actually dead, because if you hit this place and they're not, I will _personally_ rip you and your team to fucking **_shreds_** , you got it?" 

_"Hit this place"? The knife? "Team"? What the fuck? Is this one of us?_

Ray realised there was a silence. Hoping it was a good chance, he decided to peek in. He only got a glance of one person, most likely the one he heard talking. A heavy man with dark, greasy hair was all he noticed before he swung himself back behind the doorframe, realising he was about to turn around. Assuming now was his chance, he ran.

 

* * *

 

"So we have a fucking _mole_." Geoff didn't seem too surprised, but he was angry. Geoff sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head. 

"I guess so, man." They both sighed. Ray noticed his face change, a sudden curiousity mixed with confusion and leftover anger formed a new expression. 

"What about your injury? How'd you get it, then." 

Ray internally smacked himself. That was the original meaning for the story, anyways. "Oh fuck, I forgot to mention that bit." Geoff nodded and he continued. "When I ran, I had to climb a fence with some barbed wire. Cut up my side a little bit." Geoff looked at him with worry.

"You really need to go to Caleb, Ray." Geoff placed a hand on Ray's shoulder, assuming his fatherly role. He knew 'a little bit' was a lie.

"I can't have anyone finding out how I got it, Geoff." Ray inhaled sharply, a panic taking over his usual calm and laid-back self. He asked questions, each with another spike of intensity and paranoia as the last. "What if it was Caleb? What if he tells the team? What if I ruin everything?" 

Geoff was getting increasingly more concerned for his friend. His paranoia was growing quickly -something Geoff could not physically miss and could see it on his face alone. 

"Ray, I trust Caleb with my life," he tried to comfort.

"Who here _don't_ you trust, Geoff?" 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you guys think this means?


	7. Tensions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's tensions with some drastic actions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a long one. I don't have an editor, so let me know if there's anything obviously wrong, please. Thank you! I'm making up for the short chapter I posted last, so here is one nearly three times as large. :)

The next day

 

The guys were all playing Grand Theft Auto V, doing some stupid idea where they all had to get their motorcycles in a specific spot. Gavin had given up, electing to just fly a small jet above everyone while they tried to achieve their goal. 

Ryan was in the lead, almost there. He had hit the place multiple times, and he was confident he could make it this time. 

Ray was close behind him, then everybody else. 

The trajectory was perfect. Ryan was going to win.

Right before he did, however, Gavin divebombed right on top of him, killing Ryan in the impact and taking everyone else out in the following explosion (minus Ray). 

"Ryan! No!" Ray screamed, making everyone laugh. Everyone but Ryan and half Gavin, because he was too busy grabbing Gavin in a headlock.

"Ryan!" Gavin gasped out, not expecting him to be so bloody mad at him for a _video game_. It was normal for Michael and sometimes Geoff, but not Ryan. "It was an accident! I swear!" It was on that note that everyone noticed what was happening.

"Ryan, what the fuck," Michael exclaimed. No one was sure if Ryan meant what he was doing, or if he was as violent as it looked. Even Ray didn't know; his face dropped upon seeing the image of Ryan being so violent towards his own team.

Ryan ignored Michael, instead shouting at Gavin. "I almost won, Gavin!" Gavin made one of his signature noises, but it seemed to fit the occasion better than usual.

"Ryan!" Michael's voice boomed loudly as he ripped him off of Gavin. 

"I wasn't being serious!" Ryan shouted, this time targeting his anger at Michael. Ray just watched the scene play out in front of him. 

"It's-" Gavin spoke up, interrupting himself by clearing his throat. "It's fine, Micoo. I promise." He smiled at Michael, obviously trying to diffuse the situation at hand. After clearing his throat again, he added, "It wasn't even all that hard." 

Michael glared at Ryan, but he wasn't going to hurt him. If Gavin could forgive him, Michael could too. It must just be the stress of the heist mixed with Ryan's lack of sleep. 

"Thanks." Ryan looked at Gavin, speaking in a less violent but still angry tone. "But you're full of shit if you call that an 'accident'." 

"It was!" Gavin gave up pacifism for defence. "I swear." He added, sounding more persuasive. _That voice_ , Michael thought, _could persuade a gay woman to go straight and a straight man to go gay for him_. Gavin had used that voice on many people, and they all were amazed at his way of words. Ryan wasn't having it, however.

"Right, I forgot Gavin Free was the most incompetent human being on the planet." Ryan insulted, staring straight at Gavin as he said it.

"I'm not the one who takes pleasure in killing everyone around me, _Vagabond_ ," Gavin retaliated. A low blow, using the Vagabond. 

"At least my name fits the wearer, _Golden Boy_!" Ryan raised his voice, claiming Gavin is far from 'golden'.

Gavin scoffed. "Pardon me for being able to distinguish myself from my work, Ryan. _You're_ still a bloody psychopath, on the other hand." Gavin actually raised his voice.

Ryan couldn't think of a reply, electing to punch him instead. He thought better of it, however, due to Michael standing next to him, so he went with plan B: storm out.

Gavin sighed. "I didn't mean to," he whispered. Jack and Geoff gave Gavin concerned glances, and Ray stared at where Ryan was previously standing. 

"You okay, Gav?" Michael placed a hand on his shoulder, looking at his messily styled hair. He was so different than how he was when they first met, quiet and proper with suits and expensive everything. His eyes were the same blue-green, but the way they were open changed. Before, they were cautious, secretive, sad eyes. Lately, they've been more _Gavin_. But they looked just like they did those first days. Michael was worried like hell that Ryan hurt him.

He thought a second, wondering what to say. "Yeah," he said, changing his demeanour and smiling. His eyes stayed the same, but everything else screamed that he was okay. A few seconds later, even his eyes changed. Gav certainly was amazing at what he does. "I don't blame him. I was a dick." He looked into Michael's eyes before quickly looking towards the way Ryan stormed off. "Besides, he's just tired. I doubt he meant it."

Michael knew he was lying. If Michael were someone else, he'd believe it, but he _knew_ Gavin. Something was bothering him, whether it was Ryan or something else. He'd decided he'd ask him later. 

"Okay, buddy." He gave Gavin a pat on the back. 

They all knew someone should talk to Ryan, but the only people likely to say it were also the ones worried about what would happen if they did. Gavin had just fought with him, Geoff and Ray knew something that pointed to Ryan, and Michael was pissed. All that was left was-

"I'll go talk to him." Jack. 

The only response he got was Gavin nodding. 

 

* * *

 

Ryan sat on his bed. "Psychopath..." He grumbled. "I'll show him psychopath..." He pushed the pillow he was next to onto the ground. "Should just up and slit his throat." He sighed. "You're losing yourself, Ryan." He shook his head and laid down, mentally yelling at himself to just get more sleep so he's not as short fused. He knew better than to fight with Gavin. Gavin is a sarcastic, quick thinking little shit half of the time and self conscious a lot of the other half. In a physical fight, Ryan would always win. But nowadays, Gavin was the silver tongue. He once convinced a high-ranking crime boss to wear a bow in his hair. What was he thinking, fighting like that?

His head snapped up at the sound of a knock at the door. A muffled Jack called out through the wood, "Ryan, you in there?" 

He thought about it a second before calling back, "Yeah." He thought he heard a sigh of relief, or maybe just a foot shuffling. 

"Can I come in?" Jack asked, his hand already on the doorknob. 

"Yeah." Ryan sat up fully and Jack walked in. 

"You okay?" Jack pulled one of Ryan's chairs to sit in front of him. 

"Yeah." Jack sighed at Ryan's repetitive, monosyllabic replies. 

"Ryan, you should know that saying 'yeah' to everything _typically_ means it's not 'yeah'." He gave Ryan a look with raised eyebrows. "So what's really wrong?" 

Ryan sighed. "Nothing." He wanted to just lay down and wish none of that happened. He didn't even know why he wasn't able to sleep. 

"Ryan," he gave him a look. "'Nothing' is also one of those words, you know." He tried the 'funny comfort' approach. "Tell me."

Ryan sighed again. "The more I think about the heist, the more worried I am. It's been three months since the last one, and that one... That one didn't end so well." Jack nodded and he continued. "And Gavin. He's a great guy and he's great at his job, but he and I are practically the only one's targeted for everything. I guess it's because, really, we're the darkest ones of this crew." Ryan lowered his head and looked at his lap. 

"Darkest?" Jack wanted to understand the explanation given to him, and he wanted it to continue on further than this. The ends weren't quite tied yet for him. 

Ryan nodded. "Yeah. I mean, Geoff calls the shots and Ray _takes_ the shots, and Michael blows everyone and everything to pieces and you get us all the hell out of there, but it's not like what Gav and I do." He looked up at Jack and continued. "We get into people's heads. We get up close and personal, and we look into people's eyes as we ruin their lives." He paused before adding, "Or take it." 

"So, what exactly are you worried about?" Jack pulled the chair a little closer. 

"The more Gavin fucks up in games makes me worry it'll happen in real life. I'm just worried that he'll fuck things up or get fucked up, and neither of those are really a preferred option." Jack nodded. He only had one more question.

"Why are you worried it'll be Gavin to mess things up?" Jack looked at Ryan's eyes when he finally looked up. 

"Because he's the one everything is weighing on this time. Geoff and Gav are the one's that need to succeed for this heist to, and Geoff..." Ryan sighed, hating that he sounded almost prejudiced against his own team mate. "Geoff typically makes it out just fine. I'd bet on him keeping up that trend." Ryan cocked his head before looking down again.

"And Gavin typically isn't the best on the field, right?" Jack asked Ryan, making sure that's what he was trying to say. 

"Yeah." He reverted back to monosyllabic responses, it would seem. 

"Ryan, Gavin is more capable than he lets on." He chuckled and added more to his claim. "Sometimes his mistakes seem like they were intended, to be honest. Like they helped, but seemed like they were just, well, mistakes."

Ryan understood what he was saying. Jack was always a perceptive guy, and he always found himself a little more enlightened after conversations like this. "Yeah. Thank you." 

"No problem." He stood up, putting the chair back. He walked towards the door before Ryan stopped him.

"Hey Jack?" He called out. Jack turned to look at Ryan. 

"Yeah?" Jack smiled. 

"I'm going to try to get some sleep. Can you do me a favour?" He had a hopeful look.

"Sure. What is it?" Jack waited.

"The next time you see Gavin, tell him I said I'm sorry." Ryan looked guilty. 

Jack smiled at that. He was proud of Ryan. "Of course." With that he walked out of the room. 

 

* * *

 

Ray had stared at the same spot for minutes. Thoughts raced through his mind. He wanted to talk to Ryan, he wanted him to stay away. He wanted Ryan to come out of his room, but he didn't. He wanted Jack to tell them what happened. He wanted to check on Gavin and Michael. He thought about the heist. _The heist!_

"Geoff." Ray spoke, startling the man. 

"You okay?" He turned in his chair to face the youngest of the team. Geoff was only a few years shy of being old enough to be his father, and he definitely felt fatherly to everyone there. 

"Yeah. Uh, can we talk about the heist?" He added, much quieter, "Specifically the warehouse?"

Geoff nodded, gesturing for him to follow into the heist room. Gavin and Michael were in one of their rooms, and Ryan and Jack were most likely in Ryan's room. No one would notice them walking to the room, and Ray could find out if they kept secret cameras and wipe the tape. A hacker is almost always useful. 

Once they made it into the room, Ray got straight to a frantic business. "The warehouse was practically empty, Geoff."

Geoff waited for him to continue until realising he was waiting for a reply. "What are you saying?"

"Maybe it won't need such a chaotic plan. I was able to just sneak past the few guys that were there." Ray was more paranoid than Geoff thought. _This really did a number on him._

"Yes, but they have someone in the inside, right? We hit them, they'll know and they'll send a force if they have to, I expect." Geoff felt like he was crushing the kid. 

Ray looked unstable and kind of resembled a kitten near a large dog. He shook his head and grabbed his head, before nearly slamming his hands onto the table. "Yeah, you're right, you're right." He took a large breath before speaking again. "Yeah, just... Just forget I-" His abrupt stop confused Geoff. Ray stood up faster than he's seen the man move in a while. "Ooooooohhhhhh." 

"Ray, buddy? You-" He was interrupted by an outburst from Ray.

"Jesus _fucking_ **_Christ_**!" Ray started backing up from Geoff, and even quicker when Geoff tried to get closer. "I'm a fucking idiot," he shouted at himself as he fumbled behind him. It took Geoff a second or two to realise what he was doing, and another two to do the same. In no time, they were both staring a gun in the face. "It's _you_ isn't it?"

"Ray, please, calm down. We're all losing our minds and I don't know why. We all just need to keep level heads-" Geoff tried to calm him as best he could while pointing a gun at him. He couldn't risk lowering his weapon, unfortunately. 

"Bullshit, Geoff! You know _exactly_ why!" He had a steady hand, despite everything else on him being jittery. He jabbed the gun into the air for emphasis.

"I really don't, Ray!" Geoff had switched the safety off, as well as Ray. He didn't want to pull the trigger. 

Ray shook his head. "I don't believe you..."

 

* * *

 

At the same time

 

Michael had led Gavin to his bedroom. Michael hadn't gone into the brit's room much, and he loved the black bed spread with a Union Jack and American flag pillow duo. 

"Dude, you just out insulted Ryan, holy shit." Michael praised the man for his way with words and for besting Ryan in a verbal fight.

"Oh, I thought he stormed out because he was just _so_ _happy_ to be here," Gavin retorted. _The sarcasm is strong in this one._

Michael chuckled and Gavin let out a sigh. He hated fighting in general; he'd prefer it if interaction could be avoided most of the time in any scenario. "It was impressive, Gav," he gave his boi a light punch on the shoulder. "Kinda harsh, but impressive." He smiled at the blond sitting next to him. 

"Thanks." He let out a softer sigh and continued, "I just hate fighting with my friends." Gavin looked up at the curly haired man. 

"You got some nice sarcasm there, my boi." Michael let out a quick laugh. "Sarcasm and comebacks." He faked a pout. "My wittle boi is growing so fast." 

Gavin jabbed his elbow into Michael and laughed. "Funny," he smiled a smug smile, "seeing as you're the child here." They both laughed. 

"Where the hell did that trait even come from, boi?" Michael calmed his laughter. 

"When you get bloody kidnapped a lot, it tends to make it easier when you're a mingey little sarcastic donut." He spoke of it as if it was almost a good memory. Michael curled in his lips, feeling bad for the the amounts of times that's actually happened. "But ultimately, Dan got me into the habit." 

"I gotta thank him, then." Michael made a mental note to do just that. 

"I suppose so." Gavin's words changed tone, though Michael couldn't tell to what. "Back when Dan and I were freelance bombers, I got a rather large amount of sarcasm saved into my bloody sarcasm banks. Dan taught me what to do with that if I ever got kidnapped - you bloody use it." He laughed, giving Michael a cue to join in. "Sadly, sarcasm doesn't help much when you're trying to get them out, so I learned other skills. My _current_ skills." Gavin never really told this story, so Michael enjoyed hearing it. He loved hearing about how Gavin used to be just like Michael, blowing shit up that belonged to people who pissed someone off. 

"I've _really_ got to thank him, then," Michael joked. Gavin smiled. 

"I suppose so," he repeated. 

Michael got a little closer to the man sitting next to him. "You okay," he asked after a while.

"Of course I am, Micoo," he declared those words with such affirmation that he had no other idea go through his mind on the contrary after hearing them spoken.

They smiled at each other, not knowing what words to even say. Michael started into the blue-green eyes looking back at him. He took in every detail of them; a dark ring lining his currently green iris and a golden brown ring circling his pupils. _Beautiful_. 

Gavin wanted to once again scream at Michael to just realise how he felt. If he did, he didn't have to worry about telling him. A million thoughts raced through his head. He appreciated his comfort. He wanted to just _tell_ _him_. He opened his mouth to speak, debating whether or not he should finally say it. He didn't have to decide; the sound of a gunshot coming from somewhere in the apartment interrupted any hopes of being able to say them. _Someone fired their gun **inside** their own apartment. _

They both ran to the source, hoping for it to have been an accident, but they weren't stupid enough to actually believe that. Of course that wasn't true. 

Someone fired their weapon in the heist room. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I appreciate any feedback you have for me, so don't be afraid to comment :)


	8. Things Are Moving Ahead

The sight was something that scared them all. Ray was lying on the floor, and Geoff stood over him, gun in hand. 

"Did you shoot Ray?" Michael _screamed_ at Geoff the second he laid eyes on the sight before him. 

"No! _No_ , of _course_ I didn't!" Geoff was breathing heavily. "I just knocked him out." He exhaled harshly.

"Why?" It was Ryan's turn to shout at Geoff.

"He... He thought I was a fucking _mole_!" Geoff realised he was still holding his pistol and threw it to the floor. 

"W-what?" Gavin stumbled his word. "A bloody _mole_?" He furrowed his brow. They could all see confusion on each other's faces. _A mole? Why_?

 

____

 

Ray was only out for a few minutes; enough time for him to be in his bed and wake up with five familiar faces crowded around him. He felt comforted at first, but then his face contorted into that of a panic. He glanced between Ryan and Geoff, the two people he felt like he thrusted a preposterous claim on. He felt awful, and even more so when he remembered what happened. 

 

~~~

 

_"It's **you** isn't it?" It made sense. He was their **leader**. No one ever expects the guy they all spill their secrets to to double as the guy that spills them. **It made sense.**_

_"Ray, please, calm down. We're all losing our minds and I don't know why. We all just need to keep level heads-" Geoff had tried to calm him, albeit while pointing a gun at him._

_"Bullshit, Geoff! You know **exactly** why!" He jabbed his gun in the air, angry at himself for allowing himself to be such an idiot and let him know he knew._

_"I really don't, Ray!" Both of their safeties were off. Geoff seemed more against shooting him than he was. He should have taken that as a sign, but he was blinded by the feeling of betrayal that danced in his mind._

_He shook his head. "I don't believe you..."_

_"Ray, please, I'm telling you-" He had made a move towards Geoff. Fortunately, Geoff was quick on his feet. Unfortunately, what followed was a splitting pain on his face and a loud bang. He immediately gained his sanity back and hoped he missed. A few seconds later, he was unconscious._

 

~~~

 

He closed his eyes, mustering every amount of courage he could as if shutting his eyes would help; as if his eyes being open would just leak all of his courage and will to speak. As soon as he gathered enough, he inhaled and opened his eyes in the direction of the man he pulled a gun on.

"Geoff..." The older man jumped upon hearing his voice. 

"Ray, buddy, you okay?" He was worried. _Why is he worried about me_ , Ray wondered. He had pulled a gun on the man. He insinuated that he was a _traitor_. Why forgive him? 

"Why?" He found himself asking while sitting up. 

Michael stepped up, about to speak. He had a sort of angry yet worried stance and he expected some harsh words to follow, in the nicest way possible, but they never came out. Gavin pulled him back, giving him a silent signal he could only assume meant "give the poor guy a break, he had a fucking mental breakdown and tried to kill our boss". Okay, maybe only the first part.

Geoff turned from a glance to Michael and looked back at Ray. "Because I'm worried. You lost your cool a little bit in there." 

"We just want to be sure you're alright." Gavin spoke with a solemn tone with a glance towards Michael while saying it. He couldn't help but feel responsible, at least a little. 

"Yeah. I just..." Ray sighed and looked down. "I just got a little paranoid." He laughed through his nose. "Okay, a _lot_ paranoid."

Jack spoke up from the back of the room. "Why did you even think there was a mole in the first place?" 

Ray realised Geoff had to tell them what went down, but he didn't know how much he told them. He began the beginning stages of panic, unsure what to tel them. He looked to Geoff, hoping he would tell them _something_ , anything. 

He sighed with relief as his hopes fell through. "He came to me worrying about the heist going wrong. He got the _crazy_ idea of someone in our crew selling us out." He subconsciously looked at Ryan while explaining, and once he noticed, he mentally cursed himself for having so much doubt for his friend. He looked to Ray, pushing out the thought. "And apparently it 'dawned' on him that it _must_ be me," he feigned a laugh to fit the 'funny story' vibe he was trying to convey, and silently nodded to Ray. 

Gavin noticed the nod; he was perceptive - much more than he let people know. He knew that was a lie, but he didn't say anything. After all, they were keeping secrets. Why not keep some, too?

 

* * *

 

It was hours after the incident. Everyone had calmed, and they all fixed the final details they needed for the heist, and talked only a minimal amount about the mole.

He cursed himself for getting caught. He knew they don't know who it is, but it was only a short amount of time before they did. He had to act -and fast. He never wanted to do this, but maybe, if he fixes things quick enough, he could just blame Ray for getting paranoid and imagining things. He never wanted to hurt Ray, but it'd be a better trade off than breaking this team apart or hurting the crew. 

He dropped his head, worrying about his crew and what he'd do. He needed those names to pop up on the map. He needed to find them and fix everything so he can finally be himself without being afraid everyone will be hurt. He needed to go through with his plans, and maybe then... Maybe he wouldn't have to keep so many secrets anymore. 

His heart skipped a beat when he heard a ping come from his laptop. With hurried movements, he opened it and checked the sight on the screen. Right there, a red dot with one of the names he needed to find marked a location on the map for him to follow.

Things could finally get set in motion. 

He looked outside at the dark sky. Everyone was sleeping. Things couldn't be more perfect. He'd leave immediately.

" _Finally_." 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys are enjoying so far. I'm writing a chapter a day and right now I'm ahead so let me know if I should post it today or stick to a chapter a day!


	9. Individual "Jobs"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stressful day leads to a day off to cool off before everything comes back full force the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! 
> 
> I had a lot of stuff holding back my capability to write lately. I had exams and a lot of work to do taking up a lot of my time, then some personal things happened that delayed me for a short time, and then I got sick and delirious and SO MUCH STUFF HAPPENED. I'm still sick with a kidney infection and migraines and so much stuff and oh my goodness, it's awful! But I wrote a super long, happy chapter for you guys as an apology. I hope you enjoy it!

The next day

 

Geoff gave everybody a day free. The next day was the heist, and they were all stressed. Letting it loose was probably the best medicine for everyone here. 

"Sweet," was both Ray's and Michael's reply to the news. Gavin had said something Along the lines of "bloody top" and something about "micoooo". 

Ryan and Jack thanked Geoff, and that was the last of it.

Geoff didn't do anything very important, electing to go to a bar or three. He probably would have gone to more, but his eye caught a platinum blonde beauty with tattoos all over her body. With a smile, he went over to talk to her (or, that's how he tells the story). 

He spent his day off with this fascinating woman. He's had one night stands before, but this one was different. He made a mental note to call her up after the heist. 

 

* * *

 

Ryan started his day off alone, checking his weapons, tools, and ammo and making sure his wardrobe and vehicles were up to date. 

Ray, Michael and Gavin had originally gone out, hanging out around the pier and strip club. They didn't really go for the strippers; they just didn't have anywhere else in mind to go to. Ray said he came for the wings. He probably did, honestly.

When the older two of the three went to their favourite bar and started to get drunk, Ray decided to head out. He bumped into Ryan, causing a semi-awkward, very enjoyable situation.

Jack went out to see his girlfriend. He didn't want to get her into the business, but she was too good to pass up. Baby steps, he decided. She'll find out when it's the right time. 

 

* * *

 

The full story

 

Geoff walked into the third bar of the day. The first bar was boring; no fancy lights, boring music, and full of old guys losing hair and wearing garish baseball caps. He got one beer and left. 

The second bar was fun. He'd never gone there before, but he seemed to remember Gavin talking highly of it. He found it fun with the loud music and the purple and green accents everywhere. There weren't many cute girls, but it had a nice vibe. He even danced a little. He hadn't realised until after a man started grinding him that it was, in fact, a gay bar. 

He left after that. 

He went to a new bar. It was more of a club, really. Loud music, intense lights, fancy drinks, hot chicks (and dudes, but Geoff didn't really roll that way since sophomore year at high school); the whole nine yards. He talked to a girl he assumed was an erotic dancer, but she had as little personality as she did clothes on her body, and there was very little covering her. Bored, he went over to the bar, curious about the special 'Fuego Diego', whatever the Hell that was. He must have been drunk enough to be willing to try to weird drinks. It was then, after he ordered, he saw her.

"I didn't have you pegged as the girly drink enthusiast," a woman with _amazing_ hair spoke up.

"I'm usually not," he answered and sat down on the barstool next to her.

"That drunk?" She had an amused look on her face.

He nodded. "And bored out of my mind," he said as he took the drink from the bar tender.

She chuckled. "How does someone get bored at a place like this?" He turned in his chair to face her.

"Boring girl." She nodded and looked where he gestured.

"Oh, Regina!" He almost laughed.

"You know her?" He stifled a laugh. Sober enough to not be offensive to a pretty lady, apparently.

"Yeah. No personality, but great with sex." That was it. He laughed.

"Didn't get that far into the conversation," he joked and she laughed this time.

"Not good enough to," she joked. "You're not missing out." 

Drunk enough to be blunt. "So, are you gay, or-" The girl cut him off.

"Bi. I'm open to men and women," she winked. Geoff subconsciously smiled.

"I actually just came from gay bar," he found himself adding in for the humour.

It was the woman's turn to ask. "Oh! Are you?" He stopped her with a laugh.

"Oh, no, no, I'm not gay." She raised an eyebrow. "I've been known to... 'dabble' when I was younger, though." She nodded. "But the gay bar was 'cause I'm an unobservant dickhead who took a recommendation from my most likely gay best friend," he explained and she couldn't help but laugh. He held out his hand. "I'm Geoff, by the way." 

"Griffon," she took his hand. _Griffon_. "Very interesting introduction, Geoff," she joked. 

"Thank you, ma'am." 

Needless to say, he wasn't bored for the rest of the day. She gave him her number after a few hours. 

He really liked the heavily tattooed woman.

 

* * *

 

"Caiti, you there?" Jack used the key she gave him and walked in. 

"Jack!" Her Australian accent was noticeable, even with just his name. He adored it.

He wrapped an arm around her and kissed her passionately, compensating for how much he missed her. "I missed you."

"I missed you too, sweetie." She hugged him tightly and after maybe a minute, she pulled away, chuckling and running her fingers through his beard and looking into his brown eyes. "I just made dinner. Do you want some? I made extra." He nodded, looking back into her bright blue eyes.

They spent more time talking than eating, and the small talk was a good experience for Jack, a man who generally is all or nothing. It's nice to have that in-between. 

He admired this Australian woman. He daydreamed often about telling her what he did and one day marrying this woman. She was the light of his life. 

He used to have a normal life and a normal job with normal hobbies, but he just _had_ to run into some heavily tattooed man and he just _had_ to end up in the crime business. He didn't mind, and he loved everyone in his crew; he just wanted some more normalcy and Caiti was just that. 

Maybe one day, if he didn't ruin everything with his team or with her, he'd actually get that dream to become reality. 

 

* * *

 

Gavin was looking at his personal phone, glancing up every few seconds at his friends to make sure they weren't being idiots without him. Ray had since sat down, not electing to drink any alcohol in accordance to his dislike of beer in general. Michael was on the dance floor, looking great in every light. Gavin had to stop himself from fawning over him a few times. 

The song ended and the DJ announced the song and artist. It was some new song from Panic! At The Disco. He made a note to look it up later while Michael walked towards him. 

"I'm going to head out," Ray had leaned over to tell Gavin while Michael was making his slow trek back. "Gonna play some video games or something."

"Alright friend. Have fun," Gavin looked up at him to reply. Ray had made it out of the door by the time Michael finally made it over. 

"Where'd Ray go?" Michael sat next to Gavin, watching the door close behind Ray.

"Home. Alcohol isn't his scene, you know." Gavin had set his phone down, but a buzz made him pick it back up. He got a new text.

_**Geoffers** _

_I hate you by the way._

Gavin chuckled and sent a reply.

**_You_ **

_Aw, why?_

Michael watched Gavin as he watched the typing symbol from Geoff.

**_Geoffers_ **

_It was a gay bar, you bitch_

Gavin laughed, unable to send a reply, so he just set it down until he could. 

"What's so funny?" Michael was amused at his best friend's outburst, unaware as to what caused it.

Gavin caught his breath. "Geoff." Unable to say much more, he just showed the texts to him. Soon after, Michael was laughing, too. "He was here!" 

**_Geoffers_ **

_Last time I take a recommendation from you_

"Oh man that's great," Michael said, choking on a stifled laugh. 

Both guys thought the other was going to the gay bar for their friend. Gavin thought Michael just figured out he was and took him here for Gavin, not himself. He had an idea Michael was at least a little gay, but he's had girlfriends before and he knew nothing about boyfriends so it was a long shot to him. However, Michael knew he was bi and figured Gav did, too. He thought Gav was a great friend though, going out to a publicly gay place and allowing people to assume he was gay when he wasn't. 

In other words, the two were in denial the other would like them and too afraid to point out attractive men. When they did say "oh, he's cute", they both assumed they were talking for the other. If you were to look up "denial" in a dictionary, this would be the example.

It wasn't until today that they finally found out. 

Gavin was some form of an all-inclusive sexuality, but he hadn't gotten the chance to really be sure lately. For all terms and purposes, he was Michael-sexual, and nothing but. He saw some attractive people, but at the end of the day, it was _Michael_ he would think about, not some pretty brunette or some muscular surfer or something in between. Michael was something similar, but he was always more active with his sexuality, despite it not anything really meaningful; typically just little flings, lately. He dated before, but not since Gavin came across his mind. He'd be aggravated about it every once in a while, but he tried not to let it get to him.

Both of them decided to be more open today, however. A few hours later, Gavin was sitting next to Michael in a rather ignored corner of the bar, and Michael had just finished singing along childishly to a terrible song that he knew every word to. 

Michael sat up. "It's songs like _that_ that make me glad no one likes me," Michael laughed, making fun of a terrible song with a theme of "I like you but you don't know so I'll make creepy advances until you realise and I write a song about you". 

Gavin decided to take a risk, electing to allow himself to be just that - himself. He blushed, but rubbed his face in hopes that Michael would assume that was why his cheeks were red. "What in the bloody hell do you mean no one likes you, Micoo?" 

Michael chuckled, adding on to his previous statement, "I mean, I'm bi. You'd think at least _someone_ out there would like me, and, you know, I wouldn't be opposed to any gender doing that." 

Gavin's eyes widened and he fought a grin growing fast on his face. "Wait, you're bi?" Gavin assumed that he failed at hiding his face. 

"Yeah," Michael stumbled on his words. "Wa-wait, you-" he subconsciously scratched his head, and gavin couldn't help but admire the adorable look of confusion on his face. "You didn't know that?" His face got slightly redder. 

"N-no, I didn't," he chuckled. He took a deep breath, deciding that now was his chance to tell Michael he was too, especially since the man was reaching a colour similar to that of a tomato and he was trying -and failing- to gather words. "I assume this means you didn't know I was, either?" 

Michael's stumbling mouth snapped closed the second he processed what Gavin said. Their faces were growing a similar colour before they both started to giggle. 

"How did we go this long without realising?" Michael laughed out. 

Gavin just shrugged. They both started listening to the song playing. Yet another creepy "love" song. 

"Back to songs that make me glad I'm not liked, apparently." Michael slouched in his spot as he said these words.

"Oh shush, Micoo," Gavin smiled. "I know for a _fact_ someone likes you. _I'm_ the unliked one," he chuckled. 

Michael laughed in a disbelieving tone. "Funny! 'cause I could honestly say the exact same thing," he made a smug, fake pretentious face.

"So we _both_ know someone who likes the other," Gavin asked, turning to face Michael better.

Michael shrugged. "I guess so?" He leant a bit closer while asking, "who the fuck likes me?"

Gavin shrank back and shook his head. "You first." 

Michael leant back slightly and crossed his arms. "Nu-uh, no way. I asked first." 

He took a deep breath. "Same time, then."

Michael rolled his eyes, humouring the brit. "Fine, same time." 

They sat there, both incredibly nervous and afraid to actually speak up. Gavin was biting his lip, closing his eyes and trying to gather every bit of courage he could with every breath he took. Michael was flexing his muscles due to holding his arms so tightly to himself.

Surprisingly, _Gavin_ was the one that gathered the courage first. He took a deep breath. "Alright, on three." He closed his eyes again; it was easier to confess your feelings to a blank sight than to the real deal. He was ready to run depending on the reaction. "One." Michael squeezed his arms harder. "Two." Michael opened his eyes, realising Gavin hasn't. "Three." It was more shouted than said, but before Gavin could get any other words out, his lips were covered with a soft force. Opening his eyes, he knew exactly what it was. Never before had he seen the man he loved so up close, and he loved every second of it. He closed his eyes and kissed back, realising he was too distracted by being baffled to respond.

Michael broke the kiss after a few more seconds and his face was even redder. Gavin didn't find it possible. It wasn't possible for either man to blush harder, wasn't possible for Michael to like him, and it _certainly_ wasn't possible for Gavin to do anything in happy retaliation.

But it happened. 

Gavin chuckled and rubbed his neck, his face covered with the most glee he's ever had. "I guess we both know your answer, then."

Michael bit his lip before bursting out words, broken at first, before actually becoming understandable. "I'm sorry, Gavin, I don't-"

Gavin saw this as his chance. Cutting Michael off, he kissed him on his own. He wanted Michael to know, but words weren't cutting it. Actions speak louder than words, right? 

This kiss lasted longer than the last and Gavin could feel himself smile into the kiss. After a few minutes of kissing with a few quick breath breaks, Gavin pulled away and smiled. "I guess we both know my answer, too, now." 

The two left that bar at the end of the day as a couple. Gavin planned to tell them all before the heist, and Michael agreed. 

They were happy.

 

* * *

 

After Ray left the bar

 

Ray took the long way home, looking down at the ground for most of the walk. It was bright outside, and he followed his shadow for some entertainment. It wasn't until he walked past Ammu-Nation that he actually looked up. He heard the voice of Ryan shouting at the man at the counter.

"I would appreciate it if you would cut my price in half, _sir_." Ryan had an intimidating tone and Ray could tell he was wearing his mask. He frowned at the idea of not seeing his face, but then he realised what he was doing. Gavin discovered a corrupt clerk at an Ammu-Nation a few weeks ago that was bought out by a rival gang. He was probably trying to 'take care' of it.

He put his hood up and his adorned his masquerade mask before waiting by the door and listening to the man at the counter declare, "I'd rather _be_ cut in half."

"That can be arranged." Ray took that as his impromptu cue and burst in, knife in hand and a smirk on his face. 

Ryan barely glanced, smiling underneath his mask. The clerk shrunk back in fear, aware the terrifying men were most likely serious about this threat. 

"Alright, alright!" He said with a wavering voice as he changed the numbers he would pay.

"Actually," Ryan had an idea, curious as to how far he can go without actually hurting anyone, preparing for his next murder break. "How about you make it free?" He saw a defiant look on the clerk's face and Ryan raised his own weapon. That struck the fear right back into him. "Then give me all the money in the register," he said smugly, tilting his head. Ray kept silent, still smirking. It really didn't help the clerk keep his sanity.

"Alright, okay," he leapt to the register and removed handfuls of money, much more than he should be getting. Definitely a front. "How much?"

He pointed his gun harder, pushing it in the air slightly. "I said _all of it_ , didn't I?" 

"Right, sorry!" A few minutes later, they left with ammo, guns, and all the money and the tapes, leaving no record of ever being there. The man couldn't really go to the police; he was a criminal and any form of investigation to help would also incriminate him. He'd have to leave it be and hope the gang he struck a deal with doesn't kill him. 

Ryan was pleased with his work for the day. He had weapons, ammunition, money, and Ray by his side. 

"Nice job in there," Ryan said while the two were walking, still not removing his mask. He'd do that once they got inside the crew's apartment. 

"Thanks, man. You too," Ray answered. "I guess that was a mini heist." He smiled another smirk, and Ryan remembered his silent, intimidating appearance that really made the whole thing work. He really found it rather attractive.

"Just warming up for the real deal," he replied, a strange sort of tone that Ray couldn't make out encompassed his voice. "You had good timing, by the way."

Ray chuckled. "When do I don't?" He had a cheeky, smug grin and he realised what tone Ryan was using.

Ryan stopped at the door. "You're right," he smirked, but Ray couldn't see. "You're always saving our asses." 

Ray took the chance. "Some of your asses are finer than the others," he winked. "It's an honour to be saving them." 

Ryan laughed at his severely cheesy attempt at a flirt. "And whose ass do you prefer to save," he asked, opening the door. 

"Gavin's ass is pretty nice," he joked and Ryan laughed. "But _yours_ is top." He winked again, semi subconsciously while Ryan tossed off his mask.

"You bet your ass I'm top." They both started laughing. _Tonight was going to be a good night._

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so incredibly sorry if this is poorly written. I can't think very clearly, so please be nice but feel free to let me know if there's any mistakes! Thank you!


	10. John

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's the day of the heist, and the crew is on longer fuses now, but there's still some worries. John gets into quite the predicament...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I REALLY HOPE THIS CHAPTER ISN'T DISAPPOINTING 
> 
> I hope you like the chapter, and always, let me know if you find any glaring mistakes I made and didn't figure out because I didn't edit it well enough (oh how I wish I had a beta sometimes).

"John." She walked towards him, disappointment radiating from her face. She clicked her teeth, creating a repetitive "tsk" sound before adding, " _John_. You're weak."

He was hurt. Containing his pain, both emotional and physical, he spoke with strained words. "I'm not weak." He looked down at the large gash on his thigh that Basement Boy left for him. 

"You can't handle torture, yet alone watching your friends be upset!" She kicked the chair he was tied up to. "That's pretty weak to me."

He furrowed his brow. "I'm not weak, mum!" Her somewhat calm composure dropped and she grabbed a bladed object from the tray next to him, holding it to his collar bone. 

" _You_ don't get to call me that!" She tilted her head. "You chose to become this monster. You _chose_ to become _John_. _That's_ who you are now." She slid the knife down across his collar bone slightly, matching the mark left on other side years ago from when he lost his mother for what seemed would be final. " _I_ ," she began as she stood, "simply chose to get rid of this monster, _John_."

His lip quivered. His mother was the person he always wanted to know if he made proud. He continued his life in hopes that, if even slightly possible, he would talk to her after he died. It seemed to be that she would be the reason of his death, instead. 

He looked over at the screens, now blank. His team wasn't coming for him. Not in time. They'd find him beaten to a pulp, a mass of blood, if they found him at all. He'd already acquired what seemed to most likely be three broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder, too many cuts to count, and a broken nose. And by the looks of it, they were just getting started. 

"You had so many chances, John." His gaze had previously gone from the screens to his wounds, but his head snapped back up at his mother as she spoke. "So many chances to stop being this monster."

"I... I couldn't risk it." She traced the knife she held in her hand around to his abdomen, putting pressure on it, daring him to anger her.

"You couldn't 'risk it'?" She hissed. "Your friends would still be _alive_ if it wasn't for you!"

His eyes widened and a chill ran throughout his body. "W-what?" 

She leaned in to whisper, "You got them all _killed_ , John." She leaned back to her threatening stance with a knife nearly penetrating his skin, and suddenly it didn't seem so threatening. 

"All of them?" He asked her silently after pausing to gather his words into an understandable statement, his voice still wavering. 

She leaned in to whisper again. "Every," she pressed the knife further in, a sharp pain finally breaking skin, "last," she plunged the blade in and he let out a pained cry. "One of them." She finished, twisting the blade with a twisted smile to match. _This was the end..._

 

~~~

 

He woke with a start, sweat beading on his head. Subconsciously, he rubbed the near invisible scar on his collarbone. Silently, in hopes of not waking anyone, he tiptoed to the bathroom to get a drink of water, hiding in there for the next hour or so until he finally heard more walking around from the rest of his team. 

His nightmare was unexpected; it was a drastic change from the good day he had before. It woke him up about the same time he usually wakes up, but he hoped that maybe _once_ he'd get that extra hour everyone else got. It wouldn't hinder his ability for the heist, but he definitely was a little disappointed, both in losing the chance to sleep in and for having that dream again. 

The water washed away his sweat, as well as any more dwelling on the matter.

 

* * *

 

" _Finally_ ," was all Geoff said in reply to Gavin and Michael upon hearing news of a Team Nice Dynamite relationship. The others all just laughed after hearing Geoff's reply.

Gavin still had doubts about whether or not he would fuck it up, but he had Michael by his side for now, at least. 

"I still can't believe _Mr. Clean_ grinded your ass," Ray said to Geoff. He had previously told the story of how he went to a gay bar (upon Gavin's recommendation; something Geoff made _sure_ everyone knew), and only knew once a tall, muscular, bald man in a white shirt that resembled a gay Mr. Clean started grinding him on the dance floor. 

"I can't believe _anyone_ grinded his ass," Ryan joked. Geoff threw a spare pistol at the man, causing the intimidating skull-masked man to giggle like a school girl. Quite the sight. 

The men were all in the armoury, making last second checks to their weapons and ammunition before heading off to the warehouse. They all determined they were all set. 

 

* * *

 

Two nights ago

 

He cut his target off. He had a ping on his computer not even an hour before, and he knew he could find them. They were nearly inseparable.

It was dark, and he watched the bearded man make his way down the path leading to his cabin. The second best way to stay off the map is to stay away from civilisation and internet access, next to only faking your death. 

They got close enough to the cabin that it wouldn't be a long drag if things didn't go to plan, but not close enough that his partner would see him and take a shot. He really didn't need that before a heist, he thought to himself. 

The man started to whistle, apparently confident no one was nearby enough to hear him. He was wrong.

He stepped in front of the bearded man, and with a gun pointed out and a hood up, he smiled. "Hello, Mr. Kovic."

 

* * *

 

The Heist

 

They had all set up. Ray was on the roof of the taller building next to the warehouse, able to get people coming out from three of the four sides (excluding the roof, which he could reach, too). Ryan was positioned near Ray, but further ahead so he could get Ray's blind spot. 

Gavin and geoff were already inside, currently causing a diversion for Michael, who was setting up his explosives. Jack was nearby, his helicopter on a roof making no sound until necessary. There were two motorcycles for backup behind a dumpster a building away. 

Ray found himself looking at Ryan a lot more than he would the others if they were in sight. He hated doubting the man he had some feelings for, but he couldn't help it. He knew Geoff was worried, too. Every time Ryan spoke to him, he'd be extra careful with his replies. He wondered if Ryan picked up on it, as well. 

Another man ran out of the building, only to be taken out by Ra. Ryan was facing another three men and was a bit too preoccupied to handle him. 

"You have the tech yet, Golden Boy?" Gavin hadn't replied, probably too busy looking at the goods to listen to Geoff. It was a hackers dream up there, and Gavin had to try really hard to not get lost in it. Geoff mocked his friend, using a patronising play on his other code name to get his attention. With a horrific failure of an accent, he tried again. " _Oi_ , masky boy. Earth to Ma-"

"Oh sorry, yeah," he laughed through his nose and an annoying sound of blowing in your ear was heard by everyone on the channel. "I've got it, Lady Spite." Geoff and Michael couldn't help it and a little chuckle sounded from their mics. 

"And where is it?" Gavin was smart enough to be quick. He hadn't gotten lost in the tech until _after_ leaving it at the drop off zone. He wasn't inside that building after all. Ray didn't even see him leave.

"Rendezvous location. I'm not a buggering id over here," he answered Geoff with an overly British phrase that they understood perfectly due to just _how often he_ says stuff like that.

"Yeah you are," Ryan joked. Ray felt himself actually glare at the man, finding himself having to remember that Ryan isn't confirmed to be a bad guy and he shouldn't treat him any differently unless he knew for sure.

Geoff had taken the last bit of money he could find. There seemed to be less than expected, but it was still a nice hit. Nearly every man from the opposing gang was dead, and they felt rather accomplished. 

They didn't know how it happened. They were all checking in.

"Vagabond, on my way." Ryan stated matter-of-factly.

"BrownMan, I'm coming," Ray chuckled, still a child even while participating in a heist. You could even hear his wink in his voice.

"The Beard, ready to pick you all up." Jack was waiting in the cargo bomb, previously lowered to the ground by now. 

"Captain Overkill, ready to blow shit up and get the fuck out of here." Michael was already in the cargo bomb along with Geoff. They could see Ray and Ryan coming up already. _Where is Gavin?_

They all waited. A few seconds went by. "Mask?" Michael was worried out of his mind and he saw Geoff give him an equally worried glance. "Mask?" He repeated, a more unsteady tone clouding his voice.

He opened his mouth to call for him once again, but he was cut off. "Mask," Gavin's voice sounded out through their earpieces. He spoke with a choked tone, "reporting for-" he never finished his sentence. He was cut off with another sound erupting from his throat, one he couldn't hold back even if he tried. A scream of pain nearly made them deaf, it seemed, and Michael tried to call out his name. Contrary to Gavin, he couldn't make a sound. 

Ryan turned back, running towards where he last knew Gavin's location: the drop off point; a dumpster not too far away. 

Ray was terrified and confused. _What just happened? Why is Ryan helping? Please, **God** , let Gavin be alright. _

Michael was a petrified mess. He finally mustered up the courage to tell him how he felt, and he could have done that years ago. He lost so much precious time and he intended to make it up in the years to come. What if he can't now? _What if he's dead?_

Ryan made his way to the alley. Just like he thought, Gavin was there. He didn't know what he expected to see, but he wasn't quite prepared for this sight. Gavin was lying half on his side, half on his face. A knife was sticking through his lower back, and he couldn't see him moving. Terrified, he ran towards the younger man. He definitely didn't want Gavin dead.

He finally saw him move. He was crouching down in front of him, trying to make sure he was alive. He saw an expression on his face he never truly saw be genuine on him. He saw terror; his eyes were wide and filled with tears. 

"Ryan," he choked out, looking somewhat unfocused on him. "I'm sorry..." He didn't get the chance to wonder why, because before he knew what was happening, there was a gun on the back of his head and a voice of a man speaking. 

"' _Ryan_ ', eh?" The man looked at Gavin, then back at Ryan. "Not the name I expected." He hummed to himself for second then continued. "Probably more along the lines of 'James', but same difference."

Ryan didn't know who to blame for all this. _Is Gavin **dying**? _

"What's going on," He found himself asking, standing up slowly.

The man behind him clicked his teeth and looked at Gavin. "I don't know..." he had a childish, stereotypical villainous demeanour. Ryan stood between the two men, looking at the man holding the gun. He watched as he looked directly at Gavin. "Shall we tell him, John?"

Gavin looked at Ryan. "I'm _sorry_."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm curious if any of you guessed right. Leave a comment below telling me who you thought it was or even why a certain character would be a bad pick for it, please!


	11. Gavin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fake AH tries to find their missing member, and Gavin ends up finding something even bigger than John.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the previous chapter, I really hope it wasn't too fast paced. Now that I mention it, I hope this one isn't, either. I hope you enjoy the ending! I can't believe it's not even been a month and I've already finished this, without anyone being a beta or anything. I'm actually rather proud of myself for how determined I've been xD

No one was really sure what happened. Michael was sitting in the helicopter with tears in his eyes and mumbling his name as he realised Gavin's comm was Disconnected. He didn't know what to think, how to feel. Geoff had told them all about this mole Ray discovered, told them John was the name that man called him, and this man called him John... Did he make a mistake? How could he let himself fall for a monster?

But he wasn't quite angry. He didn't even know what he had done to actually betray the team. Maybe he gave them information or a cut in their winnings? But why did he hurt him? _What if he's dead?_

Meanwhile, Geoff was more interested in another name. "Ryan!" Everything had gone quiet for a minute, and he figured the man Ray discovered cut off their communication. Maybe it was a rouse? Maybe they're dead? Maybe kidnapped?

Jack finally spoke up upon the first sight of red and blue lights. "We need to go, guys. We'll come back for them." He sighed, trying to keep a level head.

That snapped Michael back into it. "No, we need... we need to make sure they're okay!" He screamed the words.

"Michael..." Geoff tried calming man. He's seen his rage before, but this time it was genuine, heart-ripped-out rage.

"No!" He began to stand, Ray finally pushing the man down in his seat. No one really knew, but he just lost someone too, and he knew both men not on the chopper needed them to think with clear minds.

He placed his hands on Michael's arms, restricting him, keeping him from standing. "Michael! Freaking out about this won't help them! Clear minds is what will help them." He spoke with his own upset tone, something resembling a calm rage. "We're going to fly over them; see where they went and if we can help, we'll help. Okay?" Ray was the voice of reason.

Jack took off, the helicopter's blades making a loud noise, pushing Michael further into sanity. They all kept a keen eye, just waiting to get a view of the drop off. They all let out a half hopeful sigh as they laid eyes on a man lying there, almost unnoticeable with all the black leather he was wearing in the dark alley and the already partially dark sky. They elected to just land and take the bikes back to the base. One of them would carry the man, but the two bikes should be enough.

Michael was the most terrified. They found an unconscious Ryan, but all they found of Gavin was a puddle of blood. He felt sick to his stomach - sicker than before. He couldn't wrap his mind around what was happening to Gavin, if he wasn't already dead. He couldn't let himself think about it, and for whatever reason, he blamed himself.

All of them did, honestly. They put that blame on themselves. Jack should have gotten him out of there quicker. Ray should have kept an eye out for him. Geoff should never have let him out of his sight to begin with. Michael should have known, he should have gotten Gavin out of his tech trance and gotten him to go to the cargo bomb with him; something, anything. He thought that, just _maybe_ , there was something he could have done but didn't. Maybe, at least, he could have been quick enough to see Gavin still laying there instead. Maybe Michael could have done _something_ different to fix this all before it started.

But he didn't.

It was after five minutes of riding around behind Jack that Geoff finally told him to blow the place. He hoped his normal thrill of blowing things up would ease his mindset now. With an optimistic hope, he gladly pushed the button. If nothing else would console him, he at least knew that this bad memory would be wiped off of the map, location-wise.

The explosion was heard in the distance and a slight smile crept onto his mouth.

"Good job," Geoff congratulated the man, and Michael felt like he was in a movie. Nothing seemed real. He could almost hear the depressing piano soundtrack and he could almost feel the rain. None of this seemed real, it couldn't be. He was at two opposite poles with his feelings within less then two days. The day before was perfect; Gavin, _his_ Gavin had the most life in him he'd ever seen. He was a bumbling, happy idiot whose heart was probably trying just as hard to beat of his chest as Michael's. His words were all spoken with this loving glee. How did that all change? Gavin went from being so full of life to being so empty of the same thing, losing more by the second. He just wished he knew this would happen, that he'd have some kind of warning. He'd at least get prepared to know what to think, if anything. But he still had no idea what he should be feeling. All he knew was that Gavin was hiding a secret that finally came out, and now he's probably dead or dying, and torture is a likely event to come for the british man.

He couldn't bear to think of it.

 

* * *

 

Everyone was trying to find him. They were coming up with every detail he hinted at, he just knew it. They'll _be here in no time..._

On the bright side, maybe he could finally find out why he had to hurt and kill all those people in the first place?

He hoped all his precautions were going to pull through if his team didn't find him soon.

He closed his eyes, and separated his mind from the pain as best he could. He had woken up in the same room he had become very familiar with during the past three months. No one was there and the lights were dimmer, almost all of them off but one bright, fluorescent light shining directly into his eyes if he turned the wrong way. He played out the scenario in his head, walking around and trying to see if he could remember it well. A little game to pass the time.

Not too long after his mental escapade, his mind wandered from the room to his thoughts. One of the things you need to be prepared for when hiding away from the physical world in your mind is that, while the physical tortures you're ignoring, you will start to dig deep down into the raw, primal, untouched parts of your mind; your fears, your worries, your guilts... and if this happens, you have to be prepared to handle it.

His mind wandered to what he experienced before getting slammed in the face and waking up in a chair once again; the same chair he first met the man in and the same chair he sat in in his nightmares. His mind wandered to fears of ruining everything. He always feared this, but that felt like a holiday compared to now. His mind wandered to his crew, to _Michael_. He created a small little world around his boi. He found his anchor.

He was happy in his imagination. He was worried for Gavin; light touches of fingertips danced across his thin body, checking for anything on him from this man that would give him just that more incentive to beat his ass to a pulp. Gavin had to admit he liked the idea of his fingers trailing up and down his body with quick but precise movements, and maybe one day he'll get to enjoy it as a pleasure alone. He kept telling the shorter man that he would get out of here, just like he does with every other mess he gets into. Michael had smiled at him, pulling him into a hug with no intent of letting go.

He go so lost in his mind that it wasn't until he started screaming in Michael's ear that he realised he was in real life, too. Intense pain slowly pulled him from his calm, fictional world and into a world that had given him many more wounds since the last he saw it with his eyes open.

He tried to jump back into his own world, electing to talk to Michael. But the words that came out of his mouth made Gavin uncomfortable. "John," the name made him cringe and Michael's moving mouth spoke it, but he realised it was not his _voice_. He tried to ignore it after noticing, but the repetitive nature of Basement Boy just _had_ to stick to a trend, and so he called out again. " _John_ ," he had elongated the name, sounding like a five year old looking for their pet.

He opened his eyes again, glaring straight into the eyes of the contradictory man. His childish, dirty, bottom-feeder appearance contradicted greatly with his dark, torturous intents. With a sigh, he decided he wasn't going to take his shit. "Oh, hi! Hello there! How are you?" He spoke to the man with feigned glee, as if he were a 'happy' cashier rather than being tied to a chair and tortured.

He punched him in the jaw, Gavin reeling back. "Shut your British trap," he exclaimed, causing Gavin to genuinely laugh. It was painful, but why not have some fun?

Gavin spoke again, this time with a well rehearsed southern accent, "Pardon me. Now do you mind telling me what the Hell is going on?" The attempt at humour only got Gavin another punch to the face, but the question itself got an answer.

"You really think you'd just get off scotch free?" He stood, trying to look intimidating, however failing due to the stains on his shirt alone. "It was always you or your team, John. Ever since day one."

Gavin started to understand. It made sense. The second he finished his job, Basement Boy couldn't have a blabber.

"Ah." He got it. "So you just wanted someone with skill?" Gavin asked him with his normal accent again, and Basement Boy nodded.

"That, and with a lot to lose if they don't do it _my_ way." He began understand why _he_ was the first target. He was the most vulnerable. His team meant everything to him. He was the only one who didn't really go solo for long periods of time; he _needed_ his teammates. He could function without them, but he couldn't lose his friends, his new family.

Gavin nodded, understanding it all. "But why?" Basement boy cocked his head. "Why did I have to do all that, everything I did?"

Basement Boy apparently decided to have some fun, too. "You're in a coma, kid. You need to wake up." He smirked at Gavin, and he lost it.

Gavin, after painfully laughing with a few coughing interruptions finally calmed his laughter enough to manage out a sentence. "Do people actually believe that?"

Basement Boy had tried to make some sort of joke, but he apparently wasn't a fan of the reaction. He growled at the man. "Shut up," he hissed.

"This isn't some cliché soap opera, Basement Boy!" The face the sweaty man acquired was priceless. Apparently he didn't like the nickname; his response was another punch, and immediately afterwards Gavin tasted blood. He grunted before repositioning himself in his chair, sitting back up and smiling a now bloody smile.

"How long have I been in here?" Gavin asked the man, and his face contorted as little as possible when he swallowed. He didn't like the taste of blood much.

"Only a couple of hours," the man started. "I want to have some fun with you before we get rid of you, though." _We?_

Maybe it was enough time. But why hasn't his _team_ found him yet? Basement Boy wasn't the best at hiding things, forcing others to do it for him.

"Why did you need me to begin with?" Gavin tried to get answers, not trying to be too direct.

Basement Boy didn't answer. Perhaps now wasn't the best time.

Gavin sighed through his nose. "What's your name?" He tried. He got a glance from Basement Boy before he felt he needed to add something. "I'm sorry for calling you 'Basement Boy'."

 

* * *

 

Ryan woke up a little bit ago, and had to fight three of his friends before they let him go outside. He announced he was going to find Gavin. What he didn't say was that he was going to break the neck of the man who did this. What he didn't know was what to do with Gavin.

He marched like he knew where he was going, mask on and Gavin's blood dried on it and on his hands and on his clothes. He must have fallen into Gavin when the man knocked him out. He felt a little sick.

Meanwhile, Ray and Michael were trying their best at hacking their way into knowing where he was. Ryan favoured a different sort hacking if he needed to get into somewhere, preferably using a machete rather than a computer code. He wasn't primal or incapable of anything else; he just preferred being able to get his hands dirty as a way to achieve the same results. Ray knew this well, but sticking to the shadows and staying anonymous was his forte, and being a hacker assisted with just that. Michael wasn't much of a hacker, but having two professionals for best friends meant he knew a little bit more than the basics. He in no way thought _he'd_ be the one to find him, but he could get the easy stuff out if the way for Ray to work where he could. Gavin would be able to have found the guy if it were someone else in his position, he just knew it. And he knew that Gavin wouldn't let it get to him, that he'd do whatever it takes to get his friend back. He'd not doubt them for a second.

Michael couldn't help but mentally punch himself in the face for his own actions.

Geoff kept surveying the cameras along with Jack, and he just hoped they'd find _anything_.

They weren't giving up.

 

* * *

 

Basement Boy still hadn't given a reply.

"I'm probably going to be dead in a little bit, anyways. Why not tell me?" Gavin had a strange feeling about everything. Something was off, he could sense it. It felt like a metaphorical hole in his stomach, but maybe it was the actual hole he had acquired somewhere between getting stabbed in the back and now.

Basement boy sighed. "I don't... I don't really _have_ a name," he replied. Gavin was confused on what this meant. A lie? Brainwashed? Forgotten? Religious? He didn't know.

"What do you mean you've not got a name?" Basement Boy took a deep breath, and paced before running a hand through his dirty, dark hair.

"I go with what's been given to me, kid." He gave him an insane smile. "I'm kinda like you, you know? Playing a role."

Gavin knew what he was saying, at least a little. Maybe he wasn't always a dirty looking man. Maybe he cleaned up nicely. Gavin constantly went undercover, but rarely looking incapable. Maybe he was just the opposite in that aspect.

He still didn't like the comparison between him and this man. He needed to find something new to differentiate him from the man. "What are you usually given?" He hoped it wouldn't be too much to ask.

 

His luck got a little better, apparently. "Joshua Flanagan, 32. A film editor from Alabama. Ex military." His recital sounded too familiar. It was like what Gavin was given on his smaller jobs. He shuddered at the thought.

Mentally cringing for continuing on with the thought, he added on. "Is that why you hired me? 'Cause we're the same?" He wanted to choke on those words, but he just wanted answers.

"No." His demeanour explained to Gavin he'd not share anything else on the matter.

It wasn't until he got a text that Gavin thought of the possibility of the contrary. Basement Boy's stance changed from dark, stubborn man to a worried sorry of excitement. It was as if you planned for something your entire life and you knew you were capable, but there's that thrill of it actually happening. That was what he looked like; he looked nervous but excited while still being calm. Exhilaration, perhaps. Invigorated.

"What was that?" Gavin asked, aggravated. The longer he was here, the longer he believed there was less hope of being saved. He thought he deserved to be a little nosy, especially if he's not every getting out of there.

He looked at his phone while he spoke. "Bit nosy." Looking up, focusing on the centre of his face, he knew he was attempting an insult. He shrugged. "At least it fits."

"Haha, that's very funny. Original," he nodded his head. Switching his head movement to a shake, he continued. "Never heard that one before." Gavin spoke with a monotonous sarcasm and rolled his eyes.

Basement Boy- no.  _Joshua_  wasn't even phased. He pocketed his phone and crossed his arms. "So you want to know why?" Gavin's jaw actually dropped. Well, his lips parted, but his hurt jaw made him lower it. He wasn't expecting him to even mention it, yet alone sound so sure he'd talk about it. "I promised, I know. I just didn't think I was really at liberty to say," he began. "You see, I'm not the head of this operation. I'm just the pretty face." Gavin snorted at that. He just didn't find the man all that 'pretty'.

"Who is, then? Why do this?" Gavin was getting tired of his cliché villain monologues, but he wanted to buy as much time as possible.

His question was answered by the sound of the heavy door opening in the silence. He saw the gold first, the reflection in his eyes blinding him for only a moment. He noticed the plaid second. Moving his eyes up to the face, his eyes met familiar blue ones.

Gavin swallowed hard and his heart sped up, beating harder and faster than he's ever remembered it going before. Finally able to speak through his previously quivering lips, he stumbled still. He should have known...

"Ryan?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything will be explained in the next part...>;) Let me know what you think! This is definitely the last chapter, but it's not the end!


End file.
